


Sleep it Off

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Blood, Broken Bones, Gen, Whump, graphic depictions of an injury, hiccup!whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26672089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup is rescued from captivity by the Dragon Riders, but is not in good shape.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 87





	Sleep it Off

Inspired by this art by [hicp.](https://hicp.tumblr.com/)

Hiccup looked so fragile like that, laying there unconscious, blood and bruising on his face. He had no tunic, and the red from blood and purple from bruising continued on down to his chest. The Riders had done what they could in so short a time, but there was nothing else they could really do. They didn’t have bandages with them, and they were afraid of upsetting any wounds. They knew Hiccup needed to be checked by Gothi, but they couldn’t get him to her just now. They were a two days’ flight away from Berk. 

Astrid sat by Hiccup’s sleeping form on a rock, axe at the ready. They’d saved him from Viggo’s clutches, far past any of their borders. Hiccup had been taken deep into Dragon Hunter territory, moved from ship to ship to keep him from being found. But the Riders had found him anyway. They always found him. They always saved him.

But now they had been too late. Viggo had gotten to Hiccup with his knives and torture devices. And Ryker had gotten to him with his fists. He was badly hurt and the whole group of Dragon Riders knew it. They couldn’t fly for long intervals of time without stopping because of Hiccup’s pain. He probably had some broken bones, but the Riders didn’t really know how to deal with those, especially if they were broken ribs, which they seemed to be. Hiccup hadn’t complained much about his pain, but they all saw it, all knew it was there. That was why they’d set up camp early and were letting Hiccup sleep. The rest of the Riders, on the other hand, could not.

“Do you think they got anything out of him?” Ruffnut asked quietly. They were all around a campfire, talking quietly so as not to wake Hiccup. He’d put his sleeping roll and pillow close to the campfire, to keep warm with his lack of full clothing. Astrid was glad that he wasn’t fully naked, that he at least had his pants, torn up as they were. They’d found him without his prosthetic, and had had to attach the new one they’d brought along just in case this very thing happened. But they hadn’t thought about clothing.

“Probably not,” Snotlout said. “He’s a tough guy.” That was seriously something coming from Snotlout, who thought he was the toughest guy around. 

“Yeah, but they had him for weeks,” Ruffnut argued. 

“We can ask Hiccup when he’s feeling better,” Astrid said. She looked him over. They’d cleaned the blood off of him as best as they could, but he’d hiss and wince when they touched his wounds. His bruising was horrible. His left eye was purple and swollen with it, and there was black and purple all along the left side of his abdomen. “We shouldn’t bother him now. He needs his rest.”

The other Riders nodded in agreement, and Snotlout just looked forlornly down at Hiccup. Hiccup suddenly twitched in his sleep, groaned. 

“Hiccup?” Astrid asked tentatively, not sure if he was awake just yet. 

Hiccup let out a yell, and was suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up. Sitting up brought pain to him, and he groaned again, put a hand to his bruised ribs. 

Astrid put a hand to his shoulder. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re all here. Just lay back down.”

So, Hiccup did, slowly. He released a small sigh when he was back on the ground. 

“Nightmares?” Astrid asked.

Hiccup nodded. “Does-does anyone have some water?” He seemed afraid to ask for things, but Astrid could understand that. He probably hadn’t been allowed to ask questions while in captivity. 

“Here, you can have some of mine,” Fishlegs offered. He came over with a waterskin, passed it to Hiccup, who gratefully took it. He took small, unsure sips, as if he was afraid of the substance, or afraid of being given it. He didn’t trust things just yet. It had only been a day since they’d rescued him. Astrid didn’t blame him. 

Hiccup passed the waterskin back to Fishlegs. “Thanks.” He wiped his mouth with a shaky hand.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Tuffnut asked.

“About what?”

“The nightmares.”

Hiccup closed his eyes, then opened them again, stared up at the stars instead of the people around him. “It was about Viggo.”

That brought them all into silence. There was nothing to be said about Viggo’s cruelty at the moment. It had shown itself well enough here. 

“Well, you’re safe now,” Astrid said. “We’re not going to let anyone get to you ever again. We’ll take you home and fix you up, and you’ll be good as new.”

“Yeah.” Hiccup gave Astrid a very unconvincing smile. He looked like he wanted to roll onto his side, but couldn’t because of his injuries. “I’m just… I’m just going to try going back to sleep.”

“And we’ll keep watch over you,” Fishlegs said. “Promise.”

Now Hiccup’s smile was real. Just a little bit. “Thanks, you guys.” He closed his eyes. The firelight played across the bruises and cuts on his face. He looked distressed, like he wouldn’t be able to sleep just yet, but Astrid didn’t want to interrupt him. He was clearly very tired. 

So, Hiccup went back to sleep, and the Dragon Riders watched over him. Nothing was getting by them this night. 


End file.
